European Football Fans’ Congress (Amsterdam, 19th-21st July)

Football supporters from across the continent will come together for the sixth European Football Fans’ Congress (EFFC) in Amsterdam from Friday 19th - Sunday 21st July. The EFFC is organised by our friends at Football Supporters Europe and they explain what it's all about below...

Is “modern football” a safe and secure event? Is it a threat to fan culture? Is it really a welcoming place for all people? What are you willing to pay for a ticket to watch your team play in the stadium these days? Would football need billionaire investors if fans were more involved in running their clubs? Are you ready to follow your national team as they play the Euros all over Europe?

When your chocolate bar or change is seen firstly as missile, when media or political storms target fans collectively as a problem because of the actions of a tiny minority, equal ultras with hooligans, equal pyro with violence – then is it any wonder fans feel they're treated like criminals?

Likewise, the police repression of all fans thanks to the racism or violence of a small minority, match-fixing, corruption and economic exploitation of clubs via billionaire investors. It's enough to make fans think - how far can the loyalty of supporters go and at what cost?

What can fans do?

What can we all do together to tackle the problems and revive the stands, as fans? We want to discuss these questions at our sixth annual EFFC at Amsterdam Arena, home to fans of Ajax Amsterdam and (often) the Dutch national team supporters who are co-hosts of this year’s EFFC!

Workshops and panels will be organised with prominent speakers around themes such as sanctions, travel restrictions, bubble matches, small leagues, fans’ dialogue with football associations, national team supporters, Euro 2020 and fan ownership.

And we’ll provide a platform for network meetings of fan lawyers, fan researchers, Supporter Liaison Officers, fan campaigns on ticketing and the FSE divisions on Fans’ Embassies and anti-discrimination. As usual, but with a different local flair to it each time, this will all be framed by a fun programme of football, pubs, drinks, barbecues, fan chants and boats...

So, we hope you’re looking forward to coming over, engrave the date in your diaries, book your bus, train or flight and register, we want to have you with us. Thanks to its location in the center of Europe as major transport hub, there is so many ways to get to Amsterdam, even with next to no money!

All fans are invited to participate, you don’t have to be a member to come – all you need to do is to proactively support the FSE core principles.

Please note that you can only take part in our European Fans’ Congress if you are registered for the event and the deadline for registrations is 30th June 2013. Looking forward to seeing you in Amsterdam!

The FSF blog is the space to challenge perceived wisdom, entertain readers and inform our members. The views expressed on this blog are those of the author – they don't necessarily represent FSF policy and (pay attention journalists) shouldn’t be attributed to the FSF. Have your say below and play nice…